Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08YAOUNDE458
2008-05-13 12:37:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Yaounde
Cable title:  

CAMEROON: AMBASSADOR VISITS EIFORCES

Tags:  PGOV PREL MASS MOPS CM 
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VZCZCXRO2918
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHYD #0458/01 1341237
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131237Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8867
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE 0149
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1735
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 2059
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0200
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK NY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0219
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 000458 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/C
STATE FOR AF/RSA BITTRICK
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICERS
ADDIS FOR USAU

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MASS MOPS CM
SUBJECT: CAMEROON: AMBASSADOR VISITS EIFORCES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YAOUNDE 000458

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/C
STATE FOR AF/RSA BITTRICK
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA ACTION OFFICERS
ADDIS FOR USAU

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL MASS MOPS CM
SUBJECT: CAMEROON: AMBASSADOR VISITS EIFORCES


1. (U) Summary: On May 7, the Ambassador and other Embassy personnel
visited the planned future site of L'Ecole Internationale des Forces
de Securite Interieure (EIFORCES) outside of Yaounde. EIFORCES is a
Cameroon-led initiative with strong French support which is intended
to build a robust, permanent, bilingual African peacekeeping
training center for police and gendarmes - the only such facility on
the continent. Cameroon is eager to play a larger regional
leadership role and has demonstrated its commitment to the EIFORCES
vision by offering land and funding to the development of the
project, which will build on existing GRC-French cooperation in the
training of Cameroonian gendarmes. Post was impressed with the
concept, obvious planning that has begun and commitment on the
ground and believes that this project, which will benefit all of
Africa, merits USG support. End Summary.


Structure
--------------


2. (U) L'Ecole Internationale des Forces de Securite Interieure
(EIFORCES) is envisioned as a joint venture between the GRC, the
Government of France and the international community to create a
bilingual training center for both Francophone and Anglophone
African students. It expects to annually train about 1,000
international (mostly African) police and gendarmes for peacekeeping
missions, mainly on the continent. EIFORCES' main missions are to
prepare formed police and gendarmes units for UN peacekeeping
missions, to create a "train the trainer" system for Africans, and
to prepare trained units to pass the required UN tests before
joining UN peacekeeping missions.


3. (U) The center will be located at the Centre de Perfectionnement
aux Techniques de Maintien de l'Ordre (CPTMO),a gendarme
instruction center which is already being used to train and prepare
Cameroonian gendarmes for peacekeeping missions. EIFORCES plans to
build more structures on the CPTMO compound and rehabilitate some
buildings. Located 50 kilometers outside of Yaounde, the CPTMO is
training center with a solid historical performance record.


4. (SBU) EIFORCES will be independently financed and will be under
the authority of the Cameroonian Ministry of Defense. The
Cameroonian Minister of Defense will be the President of EIFORCES
and members of its oversight board will be from different countries
and international organizations. EIFORCES is designed to be similar
to other regional peacekeeping training centers in Mali and Ghana.
However, unlike the other training centers it will focus on training
formed police and gendarmes units instead of individuals or regular
military forces.

Timeline
--------------


5. (U) French and Cameroonian officials said that the project should
be complete by December 2010. The schedule is as follows:

- May 23, 2008, make a presentation to international donors in
Paris.
- July 2008, select a technical office in Paris;
- December 2008, launch a call for international donations;
- February 2009, validate the donations;
- May 2009, begin building the compound;
- December 2010, completion of the construction.


6. (U) French and Cameroonian planners estimate that the building
construction will cost 15.8 million USD and the equipment cost will
be 2.1 million USD, with a total cost of about 11.7 million Euros
(roughly 18 million USD). The annual operating budget for EIFORCES
will be about 2 million USD. According to the French trainers, the
GRC donated a significant amount of money to organize the November
2007 conference in New York to present the EIFORCES concept and has
made other financial contributions to the project, as well as
providing land for the 42-hectare campus.

A Concept Worth Supporting
--------------


7. (U) EIFORCES is looking for any form of international support.
The existing CPTMO campus is small and the site for the future
EIFORCES is largely overgrown grass and trees. However, the

YAOUNDE 00000458 002 OF 002


officials at the site are committed and the concept is compelling
and well thought through. In our view, this is a project worth USG
support, which could include: funding for the construction of the
center (with input into the oversight of this construction); funding
to sponsor a particular course of training; or providing a U.S.
representative to be an integral part of the EIFORCES faculty and
staff, where they can influence and shape the curriculum and
development of this center. Supporting EIFORCES would fill an
important Africa-wide need and reinforce strong existing mil-mil
relations with Cameroon.


GARVEY